Strangest Thing
by vld-ml-atla
Summary: Pidge, ironically, decides Keith doesn't sleep enough and soon realizes she rather likes watching him sleep.


_Keith probably looks angry even when he's sleeping_ , Pidge decided one afternoon when she caught him with his eyes shut tight in irritation after a particularly annoying comment from Lance. _That is_ , she further noted, _if he ever sleeps._

Coincidentally, her first theory was confirmed the next day when she found him napping in the common room. Surprised he'd so willingly put himself in such a public place while so vulnerable—especially when he knew Lance would gladly draw on his face—she waited to see how long he'd doze.

Nearly an hour later, she was still sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of him when he woke.

His glare deepened when he saw her, and he pushed himself away from the bench as if it burned his skin. He only said one word—"Pidge?"—but it was enough to set her nerves on edge.

"Hmm?" she asked, face no doubt flushed at being caught staring.

"Were you watching me sleep?"

The spark of heat in her cheeks deepened until it was a full-blown flame. "N-no," she fumbled. "I was making sure Lance wouldn't draw on your face," she lied. She flopped her hand in the air. "But you can do that on your own now."

She stood up and nearly ran for the door, but she was only halfway before Keith called to her. "Thanks, Pidge."

She smiled, relieved he was tired enough to believe her. "Any time," she said quietly.

* * *

Somehow, Pidge stumbled upon a sleeping Keith the next day and, assuming it was too strange to simply be a coincidence, stopped to investigate.

This time he was sitting with his head rested on his knees just outside of Red's hangar.

She stood in front of him, tilting her head to the side in curiosity.

 _He must not be sleeping enough_ , she mused, concern pulling her eyebrows together in a frown. _I'm one to talk, but he definitely needs more sleep._

As if sensing her presence, he groggily lifted his head, scowling at her. "Did you say something?"

 _Oh quiznak._ Had she?

She shrugged. "I was just coming to find you," she said, remembering her reason for coming down to Red's hangar in the first place. "Hunk says it's a mandatory family dinner."

Shiro's voice came over the castle's intercom. "Paladins, we're needed in the air. Everyone get to their lions."

Keith looked up at her and shrugged. "I guess dinner will have to wait."

Pidge followed Keith to his room after the mission. She thought she'd been somewhat stealthy, but Keith spoke to her halfway there. "Now you're following me?"

He waited for her to catch up with him, then continued when she walked on. "Only because it's necessary. If I don't make sure you do it, you won't do it."

He stopped at his door, waving a hand to open it. "Do what?"

She pointed to the bed inside. "Sleep."

"What?"

She dragged him in, facing him toward the bed. "You're obviously sleep-deprived and I'm going to sit here and make sure you sleep."

"Pidge. This isn't necessary."

"It is." She nodded once. "I've found you napping in strange places twice in the past two days."

"That's not—" He frowned. "I really don't have time for this."

He turned to leave, but she grabbed his arm and shoved him onto the bed. When he looked at her, he wasn't angry like she thought he'd be. Instead, he was amused, confused, and maybe even a little impressed.

"You're scary strong."

She flushed at the unexpected words and the way he just kept staring at her, so she pulled a chair over to the side of the bed and planted herself there, pulling her handheld out of her shorts pocket. "Thank you. Now sleep."

He grudgingly lay down, self-consciously popping his neck and glancing at her.

"Don't worry," she assured him, holding up her device. "I'm not watching this time. Promise."

And she truly wasn't, because after she made sure Keith was sleeping, her eyelids grew heavier until they shut completely; they wouldn't listen to her when she told them to open again.

* * *

Despite not having been in his bed before falling asleep, that's exactly where Pidge found herself when she woke up.

After having a mini-panic attack, she realized Keith was gone, probably up and awake right after she had fallen asleep. Or maybe waiting for just that so he could make his escape, and taking it when she'd shut her eyes unwillingly.

 _This definitely isn't my bed_ , she thought, closing her eyes to focus on the distinct scent Keith had left behind. How could anything—any _one_ —smell like anger and sleep?

 _It's not unpleasant though_ , she decided, taking in a deep breath of it. _But of course it's nice_ , she reminded herself. Keith was honest, hard-working, and basically good at everything he did.

 _Not to mention good looking_ , she realized, shifting under the covers to see if his bed was comfortable from every angle.

It was.

Her next epiphany came quickly. _We're both doing everything we can to find our place in the universe._ Pidge was looking for her family, but Keith was looking for himself, and maybe for someone else too.

But who?

 _Or does it matter?_ she wondered. _As long as that someone is looking for him too._

She shook her head, surprised by the sudden sadness brought on by her thoughts. He was just as lonely as she was, but he had no one to look for—no one looking for _him._

The least she could do for him, then, was force him to sleep the loneliness away.

And so she showed up at his door after dinner the next day, tablet in hand and a project in mind for Green. Keith, oddly enough, actually let her in.

Was he really so desperate?

"I was about to go train, but then your voice popped up in my head telling me to sleep," he confessed.

Pidge smiled. "I sent that ahead when I was delayed by Lance."

"Ah," he nodded in understanding, his face deadpan. "I was wondering what took you so long. But if it was Lance, I'm surprised you got here so soon."

Her grin spread. Keith could be funny.

Who knew?

She sat down in her chair, pulling her legs up and crossing them in front of her. "So are you going to sleep or do I need to chain you to your bed?" His eyes flicked to hers and she blushed. "I didn't mean it like that."

Keith chuckled under his breath, but said nothing. He only rolled over and went to sleep.

She stared in awe instead of working on updating Green as she'd planned. Keith seemed happier and more peaceful than yesterday. She had even made him laugh.

"And you don't laugh enough," she whispered, leaning over him to get a better look at his face. Instead of the usual rigidity, his features were softer and, she realized, less pained. "See what happens when you sleep?" She yawned and leaned back in her chair, stretching her arms above her head. "Told you."

* * *

"Hey Pidge?" Lance asked as he sat down at the table for breakfast the next morning. He barely waited for her hummed reply before continuing. "What were you doing in Keith's room last night?"

Pidge's head shot up and everyone turned to look at her. "What?" she laughed, but her insides were turning to mush. "I wasn't in Keith's room last night."

Lance's lips curled. "Oh! She denies it, Hunk."

"That's funny," he replied, "because I saw you knock on his door." He looked conspiratorially around at the group. "And he let her in."

Keith, who had remained silent while they grilled her, leapt in, annoyed. "I asked her to come by—"

"Ooh, the story gets juicier!"

Pidge looked at him, astounded. What was he doing?

"—to talk about updating Red," he finished, his voice rising to override Hunk and Lance.

The rest of the crew seemed to take his words at face value and returned to their respective breakfasts, but Lance swirled his spoon through his food goo with a mischievous look in his eye. "Is that so?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Keith asked angrily.

"Because _I_ saw her leaving this morning."

Hunk gasped in mock horror. Shiro, Allura, and Coran looked back and forth between Pidge and Keith.

Pidge didn't even dare look at him, and Keith had the good sense to avoid glancing at her as well.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Lance continued, "but _talking_ about updating a lion's systems does not take all night."

"I think you're right, Lance," Hunk said.

"Thanks, buddy. But that still leaves a question: what could Keith and Pidge have possibly been doing all of last night in his room?"

Keith gritted his teeth, then stood up. "I don't have to listen to this."

"Oh I think you do."

"Lance," Pidge cut in, her voice unusually annoyed. "Leave him alone. He's telling the truth."

"Your girlfriend's defending you, Keith. How cute!"

"That still doesn't explain the hours in between," Shiro piped up, and Pidge realized they were all invested in this little drama.

Pidge rolled her eyes. She was a deft liar, she knew, since she'd had plenty of practice at the Garrison. Still, it was annoying how persistent Lance was.

"What Lance and Hunk _didn't_ see was me leaving last night after we finished talking about Red."

"And this morning?" Allura asked for everyone's curiosity.

Pidge played shy, fumbling with her spoon before setting it firmly to the side and swallowing as she met everyone's eyes. "I didn't want to say since it's embarrassing, but I stopped by this morning to ask Keith for a favor. I know I'm not the best with hand-to-hand combat and I wanted to see if he'd help me train."

Everyone knew it was true, so it was hardly lying and there was no reason anyone shouldn't buy it.

"Ah," Coran said after a short silence. "As it is a paladin's duty to be at his best, that was very wise to find your weaknesses and seek out the person most able to improve them."

"It's a good thing to see you take an interest in your training, Pidge," Shiro said. "You'll help her, won't you, Keith?"

Pidge looked up at him for the first time that morning, wondering whether she'd see annoyance or relief, but his face, for once, was hard to read. He looked around at everyone, blinked, and nodded. "I said I would and I will."

Pidge was glad everyone, including Lance, seemed to let it go, but couldn't shake the strange feeling forming in the pit of her stomach.

* * *

"Sorry to drag you into this," Pidge shifted uncomfortably on the sparring mat as Keith pulled on his helmet.

"It was a better alternative than the truth," he shrugged. "And if you had asked, I would've helped."

"Really?" she asked, the surprise evident in her voice.

Keith frowned. "I'm not that mean of a guy."

Pidge smirked. "Until someone gets on your nerves. Or does anything remotely close to it."

He made a face at her. "Is that what you think of me?"

Pidge swallowed, avoiding his eyes while she mumbled a short 'no' through her helmet.

Keith either didn't hear or didn't care because he started telling her what to do if she was face to face with an opponent without her bayard. He went through the motions with her slowly, then came at her in real time, throwing in a few things they hadn't discussed to see if it'd throw her off.

It didn't.

Despite her apparent lack of experience, Pidge was a quick learner and a quicker thinker. When he lobbed an unfamiliar ball in her direction, she calculated the force and timing necessary, then deftly hit it out of the park.

When Pidge called for a time out to catch her breath after multiple attacks from Keith, he said as much. "I really don't think you need these lessons Pidge. I mean, it's not a bad idea to train more just so you have more endurance and experience, but you're good enough under pressure that you can survive the fight."

"Huh," she breathed hard, shaking her head. "It's too bad I'm so good at this."

"Why's that?"

"It was a good excuse."

The corner of Keith's mouth curved slightly. "Because you're so good at this, you'll come up with something else if the need arises."

Something in her made her stand up straighter when he didn't say anything about trying to avoid being seen together again. And the fact she was so pleased that he didn't try to stop her from coming that night made that strange feeling in her stomach move to her chest.

"Pidge," he said after opening the door.

"What?" she mumbled, eyes half closed.

"It looks like you need more sleep than I do."

Keith was probably right, especially after their unplanned training session, but she still had work to do.

She shook her head and sat down in her chair, but her eyes remained closed; she'd navigated the room as if she knew it like the back of her hand. And maybe she did. "Can't. I have to watch you sleep."

"And here I was under the impression we'd agreed you wouldn't watch me."

Pidge blushed, suddenly aware she'd revealed that she had broken her promise. "I meant I have to make sure you sleep."

Keith chuckled, the second time he'd laughed with her, and the strange feeling from before buoyed in her chest. "You're a much better liar when you're not half asleep."

She shifted in her seat, but when her shoulder pinched, she moved again.

"What's wrong?"

She opened her eyes, wide awake now that the pain in her shoulder was back. "Nothing."

"I just told you you can't lie when you're half asleep."

"Obviously I didn't believe you."

Keith shook his head, sitting up and sliding to the edge of the bed next to her chair. "Your shoulder?" he guessed.

Pidge nodded, but leaned away when he reached for her. "I'm fine."

Keith glared at her. "At least let me decide that for myself."

She relented, twisting in her seat to allow him a better angle. He pressed his palm against her shoulder blade, his other hand holding her forearm close to his body. She didn't understand why she noticed that if she stretched out her fingers, she could cling to his jacket.

He rubbed circles on her shoulder and the pain eased a bit.

"See?" she said, her voice lower than normal. "I'm fine."

Keith remained unconvinced. "You should at least be sleeping."

"And leave you here to stay up all night? In your nonexistent dreams."

Keith _actually_ smiled, throwing her off guard, but his words were even stranger. "Then you sleep here and I'll sleep in the chair. That way you can still keep an eye on me, but you'll be more comfortable."

Pidge frowned, even as she let him pull her up out of her chair. "Why do I feel like you'll just leave once I'm out cold?"

"I won't," he said. "And I keep my promises, unlike some people." He slanted a look at her and she blushed again, sinking into the bed, less stubborn than she thought she'd be about this. _Maybe it's that nice smell of his sheets_ , she thought, the tips of her ears heating as she curled up.

"You can't watch me sleep, then," she whispered, covering her face with his blankets.

"Uh-uh. Only one promise a day, Pidge, and you've already used it up." He leaned back in the chair, his eyes still on her. "Besides, you watched me. It's only fair I get to do the same."

She was grateful she had the covers to hide under, even if she was much too warm from the way her face kept lighting on fire. And she found it only slightly strange how easy it was to fall asleep like that.

* * *

Keith kept his promise.

When Pidge opened her eyes, Keith was still sitting there, almost exactly in the same position; she never would've guessed he'd moved if his feet weren't propped up on the bed next to her.

She sat up, running a hand through her tangled hair before resting it on her shoulder, which seemed to be doing much better now.

Pidge climbed out of his bed, feeling so small next to his long, stretched out body. She had few qualms about watching him now, the only real one being that strange way her chest seemed to burn when she just looked at him.

Was it guilt over not keeping her word?

But then, if it was, the burning would hurt and she wouldn't feel so comfortable to stare.

"Pidge."

Keith shifted, crossing his feet on the bed, and leaning his head in his hand. She almost thought he was awake, but his eyes hadn't opened and she was sure he wouldn't be caught dead with the red on his face.

Out of instinct, she reached out to touch him, to run her thumb over his blushing cheek, or maybe to finger a lock of his dark hair.

This was when he chose to open his eyes—her hand midair, en route to him.

She immediately pulled back, slipping under the covers of his bed like she hadn't been awake at all.

She knew it was stupid. He had _seen_ her. Still, she played it off like she'd just woken up as he had, much better at lying after, most likely, the best sleep she'd ever had.

"Are you awake?" he asked, sounding confused.

She hummed softly, hoping she came off groggy enough.

She couldn't be sure, but she thought she heard him mumble something about dreaming. Had she actually pulled it off?

She had to give herself props, as she propped herself up on her elbows. "I should get back to updating Green, and probably Red too, if we don't want people getting suspicious."

Keith smirked, one eyebrow arched high. "What's there to be suspicious about?"

How—and why—he always made her blush was a mystery to her.

"I'm leaving," she announced firmly before she could change her mind and crawl back into his bed.

"Look both ways before you leave," he warned. "Lance is probably watching."

 _And my blushing face won't help if he catches me._

* * *

Pidge made her way to Red's hangar. Her updates would be simple since she hadn't really worked on anything and Red didn't need much. When she looked at the lion, it seemed perfect.

 _Not just Red_ , she thought suddenly, an image of a sleeping Keith conjured up in her mind. She heated at the errant thought, focusing her mind on returning to its previous task.

Peeking into the hangar, she sighed to find that Keith wasn't there.

The updates would go by easily then.

She hooked her equipment up to the lion, resisting the urge to go find Keith. Running her hand over the battered red metal, she realized her error.

When she had first deemed Keith as lonely as her, she had thought he had no one, but it wasn't true. He had Red, and Shiro. And all the rest of them.

But for some reason, it didn't seem like enough to her. Something didn't fit right.

 _He's still searching for something._

A rumble came from the lion and Pidge jumped back. "Sorry, Red. I'll stay away."

A smaller rumble, but it sounded more like a purr she had heard from Green once.

"What is it?" she asked the lion.

When it didn't respond, she blushed and turned back to her equipment. It was silly to think Red would talk to her, much less tell her if something was wrong.

She finished quickly, retreating back to her room to work on some coding for Green. She was barely there when the intercom sparked.

"Paladins," Allura spoke, "to the bridge, immediately."

* * *

"A Galran ship has located us," Shiro said, "but we have reason to believe they have intelligence that could help us defeat Zarkon. Our mission is to retrieve the data and destroy the ship. Pidge, you'll take Keith in the Green lion with its cloaking and together you'll infiltrate while the rest of us distract the fighters."

She nodded in return, heading off to Green's hangar with Keith hot on her heels.

"Be careful," Shiro said over the comms in their helmets. "It's just the two of you. Watch each other's backs."

Keith hung on to the pilot's chair as Pidge maneuvered Green out of the hangar and towards the Galran ship. He showed her where to set down for the shortest route to where the intelligence was stored and together, they cut through the ship's hull.

"This way," Pidge said, leading him through the maze of halls.

They found the room, Keith standing guard just inside the door while Pidge worked on the computer.

 _15 percent._

"Quiznak!" she cursed when she hit a firewall.

Keith came over, worry on his face. "What is it?"

She shook her head. "Nothing I can't handle."

 _40 percent._

If she hadn't been so focused on the hacking, she would've heard the scuffling sound in the hallway.

 _50 percent._

"Pidge!"

And then she was knocked to the ground to avoid a shot to the side, the impact making it hard to breathe.

Keith was beside her, getting up and summoning his bayard, when her breath returned. She followed suit, but he shook his head. "I'll handle the sentries. You get the data."

She nodded once, sliding under the console to where she could reach the controls while Keith advanced on the small pack of sentries.

 _85 percent._

"Hurry up, Pidge," Keith called from behind her.

"I'm almost there," she said, typing away at the Galran keys. "Aaaaand—"

 _100 percent._

"Done!"

Her digital face flashed across the screen, bouncing around and laughing as she extracted the data chip.

She turned to fight, but Keith was halfway out the door, looking down the hallway from where they came. "Looks like we'll have to take the long way back."

"Alright, rerouting," she replied, scanning her holo-map for another path. "There!"

They ran the halls this time, taking a slice or shot here and there when they ran into sentries.

* * *

They were nearly to the cargo bay where they had snuck in when a pack of sentries surrounded them, one of them taking a shot at Keith and hitting him in his sword arm.

"Ah!"

"Keith!" Frantic, she pulled him behind a stack of cargo boxes. "What do we do?"

Taking them out was easy work for Keith on a normal day, but he was injured. Still, he had to try; he had Pidge relying on him.

"You go right. I'll take left."

"But your arm!"

"I still have the other one, don't I?"

"You're crazy!"

Keith shrugged. "Maybe, but crazy's all we've got."

She did as he said, shooting past the two sentries on the right at the cargo box behind. With all her effort, she pulled and the box crashed down on them before they could take a shot at her.

Only twenty or so feet away, Keith fought a sentry, sorely mistaken in his confidence in his left arm. He managed to disable the sentry's weapon, but another was coming up on him from the side and the first was still attacking.

The second sentry's shot scraped the back of his leg, and he was knocked to the ground. Falling flat on his back, his scream of pain escaped as barely a whisper.

He couldn't see anything from where he was, but he heard a determined "I'm coming" and a whoosh of her bayard through the air.

In another moment, he saw her bayard fly through the air above him and heard the clank of it landing behind him.

As much as he wanted to—as much as he needed to—he couldn't get up. Now, when she needed him most, he could do nothing but listen and wait for her to come running to him, triumphant.

"You've got this, Pidge," he whispered to himself. "Just do it like we trained."

When all turned to silence, he started to worry. What had happened? Was Pidge okay? Where was she?

And then her labored breathing sounded beside him, and her face hovered above him in the air. She knelt down to help him up, shouldering most of his weight as she wrapped her arm around his waist and stood.

She practically carried him back to Green, setting him down in the cockpit next to her while she guided her lion back to the castle.

She helped him up and out after they'd landed in the hangar, calling for backup on comms. With the other paladins out destroying the ship and Allura piloting the castle, Coran was the one to relieve Pidge of her heavy burden. He took Keith from her arms and she stood, staring as she always did, as they walked away.

* * *

Pidge followed Coran to the med bay not long after, in need of some healing herself, What with the scraps and bruises lining her fists from her hand-to-hand with the sentry. While she had trained for that exact moment with Keith, it hadn't been what she'd expected.

With Keith it was fun and exciting, a learning experience for her. In reality, it was terrifying, especially knowing if she failed, she failed Keith too.

Pidge sat next to Keith's pod while she bandaged herself up, Coran long gone off to fix something. None of the other paladins had returned, leaving her to wallow in her grief alone.

She knew he would be fine, even without the healing pod; his injuries, while quite large, hadn't been to anything important.

Still, she didn't like the feeling of just waiting around to see when he'd wake up.

 _And here all I've been trying to do is get him to sleep_ , she mused.

When the others came in a few minutes later, she handed the data chip off to Allura and, despite her desire to stick around to watch Keith, told them she was off to sleep.

Instead of going to her own bed, she went to his, falling asleep only when she had thoroughly sniffed his sheets and wrapped her arms around his pillow.

She barely woke up when he slid in beside her, just rolled over and wrapped her arms around him, earning herself a muffled laugh as he kissed her forehead.

* * *

When morning came around, they slept on, just a heap of entangled limbs and soft sighs. They didn't really wake up until mid-afternoon, when Pidge accidentally kicked him in her sleep.

"Ow!"

Pidge lifted her head from the pillow, looking around in confusion.

"You kicked me," he started in his blunt way.

"Whoops?"

"Why is that a question?"

Pidge flopped over, patting his head. "Sorry."

He made a face. "Sure you are."

"I'll prove it to you," she smirked, running her hands through his hair, delighted when a low moan sounded deep in his throat.

"Please do."

As she leaned in to kiss him, she couldn't help but hope that he had found what he'd been searching for in her.

His lips, slow and warm on hers, were all she needed to set her worries aside.

That feeling she once thought strange had become so comfortable and warm that she didn't question what is was anymore; she just let it be.


End file.
